It might come as a surprise but the more kids you have, the bigger your status symbol. That’s according to a new memoir called ‘Primates of Park Avenue‘.
The author, Wednesday Martin, moved from New York’s West Village to the Upper East Side to raise her family, and observed the millionaire moms living there. In her book she writes, “I quickly became desensitized to massive families — they were everywhere.
“Three was the new two, something you just did in this habitat. Four was the new three — previously conversation stopping, but now nothing unusual. Five was no longer crazy or religious — it just meant you were rich. And six was apparently the new town house — or Gulfstream.”
Shortly before having her second child, American actress Tina Fey spoke about her experience of being a one-child parent, living in New York. She wrote in The New Yorker, “I thought that raising an only child would be the norm in New York, but I’m pretty sure my daughter is the only child in her class without a sibling. All over Manhattan, large families have become a status symbol. Four beautiful children named after kings and pieces of fruit are a way of saying, “I can afford a four-bedroom apartment and a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in elementary-school tuition fees each year. How you livin’?”
Whilst we might stereotype wealthy urban families as being smaller, that’s not necessarily the case. It kind of makes sense too when you consider that parents in the US are projected to spend, wait for it, almost a quarter of a million dollars, according to a government report.
If that figure gives you pause for thought, check out these ten top tips on staying solvent when kids come along.
